Problems of Veela Proportion
by ardj18
Summary: "Being part veela is what most girls dream of. I hate it." The story of Victoire's life at Hogwarts. NOT ABANDONED, BUT BEING REWRITTEN
1. Part Veela

**A/N: **sorry its so short, but the next chapter will be longer, i promise. right now, i'm planning on having this story show how teddy and victoire's relationship progresses over the years, mostly by random moments together, so it might skip around a bit. please review and tell me what you think!

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Being part veela has its advantages. I never have to worry about acne, or smelling weird, or wearing makeup. Even the worst hair day somehow manages to look great on me. Guys stare at me wherever I go. I've even caught some of them drooling. I've been told that I look drop-dead gorgeous more times than I can count. Most girls would kill to be part veela.

I hate it.

Why? You might ask. You wouldn't be the first. See, most girls think that I'm strange, bordering on insane, because I hate the thing that makes me different, that makes me totally and completely gorgeous, that makes me able to get any guy I want. Those are exactly the reasons I hate it.

It's the _only_ thing that makes me different. When people talk about me, they say, "Oh yeah, Victoire, the veela." They don't say, "Oh yeah, Victoire, the girl who made 103% on her Charms exam." Or even, "Victoire, the girl who can't stand in one spot without tripping." No, it's always Victoire the Veela. That's all most people see. They don't see _me_.

And who wants to be gorgeous anyway? It just gets you unwanted attention. Like I said earlier, guys follow me around drooling. It's not actually that much fun. I can understand how Uncle Harry felt, always having people stare at him. Some people are made for the spotlight, but not me.

Yeah, I can get any guy I want. Problem is, I _don't _want them. So let's correct that statement: I can get any guy I want, except the one I actually like.


	2. Hogwarts at Last

"Victoire!" I turned to see a very excited Teddy Lupin running towards me across the platform. I grinned at him. "Long time no see," he said as he finally caught up.

I rolled my eyes, remembering the huge goodbye party for Teddy and me at the Burrow last night. The whole family had been there, including a two-month-old Lucy.

"I can't believe I'm finally going to Hogwarts!" I squealed, bouncing up and down in excitement. Teddy laughed at my enthusiasm. I'd been looking forward to Hogwarts since Teddy had gotten his letter two years ago.

"It'll be great having you there this year," he told me, still grinning. Apparently my enthusiasm was contagious. We chatted for a few more minutes about Quidditch (Teddy was on the team and was very enthusiastic), before we were called back over to my parents, Harry, and Teddy's Grandma.

They all hugged us and Mum and Ms. Andromeda (as she had told me to call her years ago), teared up, and Dominique complained that she wouldn't get to go for another two years. About ten minutes later, Teddy and I were finally on the train, heading towards Hogwarts!

He said goodbye and headed off to find his friends. That's when it hit me that I wouldn't really be hanging around with Teddy that much at school. He had his own friends, and I was expected to find my own as well. It was a strange feeling; Teddy and I had been best friends since we were little, and I had missed him terribly while he was at Hogwarts without me. I could tell he missed me too by the letters he wrote, but he wasn't missing me nearly as much as I had missed him. The thought of _not _hanging out with Teddy made me a bit sad, but nothing could make me feel too down right now. I was going to Hogwarts!

I walked down the train, trying to find a compartment. By the time I was three fourths of the way down, I saw that most of them were full. But eventually I found one that only had one other occupant. I was nervous, but I pushed the door open anyway. Inside was a girl who was obviously new like me. She had wavy light brown hair and startling sea-green eyes. "Can I sit here?" I asked.

The girl nodded and I sat down on the seat opposite her. "My name's Victoire Weasley," I said, smiling hesitantly. She smiled back.

"I'm Meghan Wood," she said, smiling back. There was a pause. "So . . ." she began. "Was that really Harry Potter you were talking to on the platform?" I laughed. I restrained myself from rolling my eyes; I really felt sorry for Uncle Harry. He can't go anywhere without hundreds of people gawping at him.

"Yeah, he's my uncle," I explained.

"That's awesome," she said, starting to laugh along with me. I've been told my laugh is contagious, just like my excitement.

"I'm so excited to be going to Hogwarts!" I cried, unable to stop myself. Meghan laughed and agreed with me. We talked for a long time, discussing different houses and stories we'd heard about Hogwarts. After a few hours, a lady walked down the train, pushing a cart full of treats. I bought myself some Chocolate Frogs, which are my favorite candy of all time – I mean, anything chocolate is great, but when it comes with cool cards, it's just so much better – and Meghan got some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

A minute or two after the lady with the cart had passed, a boy came to our compartment. He had black hair and was rather tall. "Hi!" he said enthusiastically. "Can I join you guys?" I looked at Meghan, who seemed to agree, and nodded. "Cool!" he replied, plopping down on the seat next to me. "I'm Ian McCampbell, by the way. I got kicked out of my compartment by some Slytherin seventh years. Totally unfair, it was six to one!"

I laughed, and soon Meghan joined in. "What?" asked Ian, sounding a little offended. "Nothing," I giggled.

"It was just . . . your expression!" explained Meghan. Ian started laughing too, and soon we were all having a laugh attack, and we'd all forgotten what was funny in the first place. Eventually we controlled ourselves and started talking about random stuff, touching on everything from turkeys to ghosts.

About half an hour later, I got up to go to the bathroom. As I was walking back to my compartment, I ran into Teddy. He had a pack of Chocolate Frogs in his hands. "Hey Vic!" he greeted me. "I was just coming to find you. I thought you could use some Chocolate Frogs!" This was a bit of an inside joke between us. You see, Teddy was the one who first got me addicted to them, back when I was three. Ever since, he's always given me Chocolate Frogs when he has some.

I grinned. "Thanks!" I told him, accepting the chocolate. "I'll be sure to give you Dumbledore if I get it." It was the only card he was missing from his collection, which was massive to say the least. He liked the candy almost as much as I did.

Still grinning, I headed back to the compartment where Meghan and Ian were. They looked up from their conversation as I entered. "Where'd you get the Chocolate Frogs?" asked Ian curiously.

"My cousin, Teddy, gave them to me."

"Teddy? You mean Teddy Lupin?" asked Meghan. I nodded. "He's a metamorphmagus, right? My older brother told me about him. Apparently all the girls are in love with Teddy. He's your cousin?"

"Well, no, not really," I replied, thinking about what she'd said. All the girls were in love with Teddy? That should be interesting. He probably didn't even notice. "He's my Uncle Harry's godson, and he comes to like every family event we ever have. He's my best friend."

"Uncle Harry?" asked Ian, looking very curious.

I rolled my eyes. Here we go again. "Yes, I am related to the Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, the chosen one, the defeater of Voldemort, all that." Ian looked surprised, then laughed. We spent the rest of the train ride talking about our family and Hogwarts.

When we arrived at Hogsmeade Station, we saw Hagrid waving us over towards the boats that were bobbing in the lake. I got in a boat along with Meghan, Ian, and another guy named Caleb. As soon as the castle came into view I gasped. I wasn't the only one, either. It was simply breathtaking. The windows were all lit, giving the impression that the whole castle was glowing. I couldn't believe that this would be my home for the next seven years.

During the Sorting Ceremony, I was a little nervous, but it was all for nothing. I was put into Gryffindor (though the hat seriously considered Ravenclaw), along with Meghan, and Ian. Teddy was also in Gryffindor. The boy we'd been in a boat with, Caleb, was sorted into Ravenclaw.

The feast was delicious, though personally, I preferred Grandma's homecooked meals. As I trooped up to Gryffindor Tower, I was exhausted. I shared a dormitory with Meghan, and three other girls named Stacey, Jessamine, and Lorelei. It wasn't until I was in bed that I realized that Ian hadn't been at all affected by my veela-ness. He was the first guy (with the exception of Teddy) to not be affected. This made me really happy.

As I drifted off to sleep, I felt the happiest I had been in a while. I was at Hogwarts; I had two new friends, and tomorrow looked great.


	3. Potions Books

"I hate Transfiguration," sighed Meghan.

"Name one class you do like," I challenged, finishing my essay and chucking the five messed up attempts into the fireplace. Meghan thought for a moment.

"I know!" she exclaimed. "I like Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Ian and I nodded. "Me too," I said distractedly, starting on the rest of my homework.

"Yeah," Ian laughed, "we all know it's your favorite subject Vic."

"Why is that?" questioned Meghan, who had always been puzzled by my love of DADA when I was so much better at Charms.

I shrugged. "I dunno. I've always loved hearing Uncle Harry tell me stories about the fight against Voldemort. It's so much fun to hear about all he did. Did you know that he once led a secret rebellion group, teaching the students Defense Against the Dark Arts because the teacher wouldn't let them use magic?" My friends shook their heads, looking amazed. "Yeah," I continued. "It's my favorite story. That's probably why I love Defense so much."

After that, Meghan and I decided to start our Potions essay (Ian had already finished his). "Darn it!" Meghan cried, searching through her bag. "I left my Potions book in the dungeons!"

"That's okay," I said, reaching into my own bag. "You can borrow mine . . ." I trailed off as I realized that I didn't have my book either. I sighed and stood up. "I'll go get them," I said, striding towards the portrait hole. I knew that if we didn't get our books, someone would have taken or hidden them before our class tomorrow.

I walked down to the dungeons, passing Peeves on my way, who was setting up a barricade in front of the main staircase. I ducked down a secret passage Teddy had told me about last week, and was soon in the Potions classroom. I found mine and Meghan's books on the table we'd been sitting at earlier. I grabbed them, and hurried out of the room. The big, empty, and terribly lit classroom creeped me out a little.

I was in such a hurry to get back to the common room (hey, it was cold in the dungeons) that I didn't notice that someone was standing in the corridor until I bumped into them. I looked up to see a tall, second year Slytherin with slicked back brown hair. I realized I must be close to the Slytherin common room, though I didn't know exactly where it was.

The boy stared at me contemptuously. "Apologize!" he demanded. Normally, I would have apologized for bumping into someone, but the way he demanded it of me just caused my anger to flare. Now, this is really not a good thing. Because I'm part veela, I have an abnormally vicious temper, or so I've been told. And, well, the Weasley side . . . it doesn't help at all.

"Make me," I shot back. His face hardened, but he smiled, a truly nasty sight.

"Weasley, aren't you? How's that pig pen of a house holding up?" No one, and I mean no one, insults my family. I only barely restrained myself from attacking him, reminding myself that he was bigger and knew more magic.

"What's your family going to do now you've spent all their money on grease for that hair?" I asked. It wasn't the most creative, I know, but it's all I could think of with rage pounding in my brain. It must have been a touchy subject for him though, because it infuriated him. He jumped at me, his hand making contact with my face in a stinging blow. I aimed an elbow at his face, but he was too fast. He grabbed my arm and twirled it behind me, pinning me to the cold stone wall.

My mind was trying to work out how to get free. I couldn't see him, but suddenly the boy's weight was lifted off me and my arm was free. I whirled around to see Teddy pull the Slytherin off me and punch him hard on the nose. Teddy's hair was bright red, which I knew meant he was seething with rage. I'd only seen him this way once, and I knew how crazy he got when he was angry. He threw the boy who'd attacked me down the corridor, and looked about ready to go after him. I knew Teddy would get in trouble if he continued to fight, so I grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him up the stairs.

He struggled for a minute, but once he realized that it was just me trying to get him up the stairs, he stopped trying to go after the guy. Once we were in the Entrance Hall, I let go of Teddy's arm and gave him a huge hug. I realized that I was crying. Teddy wrapped his arms around me and comforted me, as he had done countless times before. "Thank you," I mumbled into his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding worried. I looked up at him, not crying anymore.

"Yeah," I said.

"Um, you're bleeding." He reached down and touched my cheek, where I realized I had a small cut.

"It's nothing," I said, pulling away and wiping my cheek on my sleeve. Teddy looked disbelieving, but walked me back up to the common room. "Thanks again," I said, hugging him before heading up to my dormitory. Right now I didn't care that I still had homework to do. I just wanted to go to bed.

The next morning I realized that I had left the textbooks I had gone to get in the dungeon corridor. I sighed, deciding to go with Meghan to get them after breakfast. But when I went downstairs, I found both of them on a table by the fire. Teddy must have gone back to get them. I smiled down at the books, glad that I had Teddy looking out for me.


	4. Quidditch!

**A/N: **I'm so sorry that I took so long getting this chapter up. And I'm sorry it's so short. I've had a major case of writer's block and WAY too much homework. If any of you have suggestions or requests for future chapters, please review! It would make me very happy. Enjoy!

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I bounced up and down in my seat, impatient for the game to start. It was the first Quidditch match of the year, and the first one I'd ever been to at Hogwarts. Ian laughed at my antics and pulled me back down. "It'll start soon," he said patiently, used to my hyper attacks by now.

"Yeah," agreed Thomas, a Hufflepuff in our year. We were friends, though not really that close, and he had came to sit with us in order to avoid another Hufflepuff who was apparently stalking him.

"Look, there they are!" said Meghan, looking down at the field. I craned my neck to see, and sure enough, there they were, a collection of scarlet robed teenagers. Even from far away I could see the bright head of turquoise hair that was Teddy.

Madam Hooch, our flying teacher, though she was getting on in years, came out onto the pitch and released the balls. She tossed the quaffle up in the air and the game began. "And it's Trent of Gryffindor with the quaffle. He passes to Lupin, who dodges a bludger from one of the Slytherin beaters, and passes to Clarke. She streaks down the pitch and – oh! The quaffle is taken by Young of Slytherin."

The game continued, becoming more vicious with each passing minute. After another twenty minutes, Gryffindor was fifty points up, and each side had earned close to ten penalties. I watched Teddy, who was, I had to admit, a very excellent flyer. Anyone who saw him would say he was a natural. But I knew he wasn't. I remembered him telling me about going to Uncle Harry's house and spending hours practicing. He would come over to my house flushed and excited, wanting to play a game of Quidditch to show me his new skills.

I wasn't that bad on a broom myself, as I had proved at last week's flying lesson. It's a bit strange, I mean, I can't walk on a flat surface without tripping, but I could easily toss around a ball fifty feet in the air without falling or hurting myself. Hmmm, maybe I would try out for the team next year. I would love to be a chaser, like Teddy, and I think that Justin Trent is leaving next year.

A loud cheer woke me from my thoughts. I looked and saw that Trevor Goldstein had just made a spectacular save. He tossed the ball to Teddy, who took off toward the Slytherin goal, dodging expertly around bludgers and Slytherins. Two of the Slytherin chasers stopped in midair in front of Teddy, blocking him. Teddy didn't even pause. He dropped the quaffle, which was caught by Meredith Clarke, and moved around the Slytherins, catching the quaffle as it was passed back to him. Teddy streaked down the rest of the field, and tossed the quaffle through the goal before the Slytherin keeper could react.

The Gryffindor side of the stands, along with most of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, erupted in cheers. I found myself screaming along with them. "Whoooooooooooooooo! Go Teddy!" I yelled, jumping up and down while my friends laughed at my enthusiasm.

As the game continued, more and more spectacular goals were made, mostly by Teddy, and it seemed as if Trevor was incapable of missing the ball. The Slytherins were falling farther and farther behind, as the Gryffindors gained another seventy points. Emily Taylor, the seeker for Gryffindor, continued circling the game from above, searching for the snitch. I glanced at her and suddenly she went into a fast, steep dive, straight towards the grass below. She pulled up a few yards above the ground, the tiny fluttering snitch clutched in her hand. Gryffindor had won!

Everyone rushed onto the field to congratulate the team, and I found myself, along with Meghan and Ian, being pushed along by the crowd to Gryffindor tower, where a party was starting to celebrate. I saw Teddy sneak off as the team reached the portrait hole, a piece of parchment clutched in his hand. He returned a few minutes later with armfuls of sweets and other food.

The party was fun, though very loud. When I saw Teddy return with the food, I rushed over to congratulate him. "Great job!" I exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks," he laughed, returning the hug. "Were you cheering? I thought I heard you."

"C'mon Teddy, there's no way you could have heard me. There were tons of people cheering, and you were far away anyway."

"So you were cheering!" he exclaimed. I laughed at him and went off to get some food. I was just picking up a cookie when Lorelei, one of my dorm-mates came over. We talked for a while, but I kept looking over at the Quidditch team. They all looked ecstatic, especially Teddy, who had turned his hair bright orange. I wondered if he would mind giving me some flying lessons. Yes, I was definitely going to try out for the team next year.


	5. Mashed Potatoes

**A/N:** I'm really sorry that it took so long, but I've been so busy with homework lately that I haven't had much time to work on it. Thank you to all my reviewers, Y'all make me so happy! I hope that you like this chapter. The next will bring Quidditch lessons with Teddy and trouble with Pravus (yes, I finally thought up a name for him!) Remember, constructive criticism, suggestions, requests, and any other reviews are welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_Dear Vicky,_

_How are you? We haven't heard from you in a while. I'm sure you're just having too much fun to bother writing to your family. Anyway, we're all fine – Dominique is still moping that she doesn't get to go to Hogwarts, and Louis is bouncing around mischievously as ever. _

_Your mother and I miss you terribly, but I know you aren't missing us a bit, are you! It's okay though, I remember my first year, I didn't write Mum for three months and she freaked out, so I won't do that to you._

_Anyway, we're all going to visit Gabrielle for Christmas, and you're welcome to come, or you could stay at Hogwarts if you wish. It's up to you. Send us back an owl once you decide! Have fun and be good._

_Love from all of us,_

_Daddy _

_Mum_

_Dominique_

_Louis_

I folded up the letter and placed it in my pocket. I hadn't even realized that I wasn't writing to my family. It also came as a shock that it was already almost the Christmas holidays! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.

I wondered if I should go home for Christmas. It was true, I wasn't really missing my family too much, in fact, I hadn't really thought about them for a while. Shows what a great daughter I am.

I wanted to stay at Hogwarts, it seemed like it would be so much fun. Plus, I wasn't really excited at the prospect of spending Christmas with Aunt Gabrielle. I mean, I love her, but she's not my favorite person. She can be fun too, but only in small amounts. She worries too much about her makeup, and clothes, and all that. Not something I'm really into.

I picked up a piece of toast and began spreading marmalade on it when I felt someone sitting down next to me. I looked over and saw Teddy. His hair was bright yellow, something that always showed he was happy.

"So how are you today, my favorite not-cousin?" I shook my head at him.

"Marvelous. And what has put you in such a wonderful mood, O favorite not-cousin of mine?"

Teddy pretended to look hurt. "So I'm not allowed to just be happy?" he pouted.

"Considering that your being "just happy" usually ends up with me covered in goo or something, I'm going to have to say no, you aren't allowed to be just happy." Teddy just laughed at me, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

"Have you no faith in me? No wait, don't answer that. Anyways, to answer your question, I am in such a wonderful mood because Christmas is approaching, and the holidays start next week!"

I smiled, Teddy had always loved Christmas. "So, are you staying at Hogwarts?" I asked. I was already pretty sure that I would be staying, and it would be great to have some company. I didn't know Meghan and Ian's plans, as they were late to breakfast.

"Why yes, I am," said Teddy. "I've spent the last two at home – mainly so you wouldn't kill me when I got home for the summer – and I want to experience Hogwarts at Christmas time!" He looked at me. "What about you?"

"I'm staying. My family's going to visit Auntie Gabrielle, and, well . . ."

"Ah," said Teddy smiling, he knew my feeling s towards my Aunt. "Say no more. Well, I better be off." He started to rise when I suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Teddy, would you give me some flying lessons over the break? I'm thinking of trying out for the team next year."

"Sure!" Teddy smiled at me, obviously excited. He really loved flying. Waving goodbye, he hurried off towards his friends, who were just leaving the Great Hall. I turned back to my toast.

I was almost done eating when I felt two people slide onto the bench on either side of me. I knew without looking up that it was Meghan and Ian. They hurriedly grabbed some eggs and toast (we only had ten minutes before class) and began to eat. Well, that's what they get for sleeping in.

"So, what are you two doing for Christmas?" I asked. Ian, who had just taken a large bite of eggs, swallowed it quickly and turned to answer me. Meghan looked slightly revolted by his eating habits.

"I'm staying for Christmas!" he announced. "Any time I can get away from my sisters before they start next year." I laughed, knowing that he really loved his sisters, and from the way he talked about them, I could tell he was very protective.

Meghan laughed too. "I'm going home," she said, looking both said and happy, which I must say was quite an accomplishment. "I miss my family so badly!" It was the truth. Ian and I both knew how homesick she was.

"Well, I'm staying. My family is visiting my Aunt, and, well, let's just say that spending all of Christmas with Auntie Gabrielle is not exactly my idea of fun."

Just then the bell rang, and we all jumped up. We hadn't noticed the rapidly emptying Hall, and now we had about two minutes to get to Transfiguration. Aargh!!

Multiple long hours and lots of homework later, we were once again seated in the Great Hall for dinner. We were just starting our chicken when Neville – I mean Professor Longbottom (it's so confusing, knowing a professor outside of school, even if you don't know them very well) came around with a sheet listing who would be staying at Hogwarts for the holidays.

Ian signed his name and passed the clipboard to me. I put my name on the next line, realizing as I did so that Michael Pravus (the Slytherin who'd been trying to beat me up – I finally figured out his name) would also be staying. Ugh.

But even with that unfortunate news, I was still elated. My first Hogwarts Christmas. My excitement continued to grow all week, which made lessons go uncomfortably slow. By Friday I was ready for the weekend (which was the beginning of the break)!

On Friday evening Ian and I said goodbye to Meghan, who was getting on the Hogwarts Express to go back to her house. "Have a great Christmas!" I squealed, hugging her tightly.

"I will," she assured me, laughing at my enthusiasm. She then hugged Ian and hopped up on the train, which was billowing smoke. She waved at us one more time and disappeared into the train.

I turned to Ian. "It's Christmas break!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down and clapping my hands.

"How much sugar have you had today?" laughed Ian, grabbing my arm and pulling me back up to the castle.

"Not much," I pouted, my slightly twitching hand giving me away. Hey, I react slightly badly to sugar, it's not _my _fault.

On Saturday, Ian, Teddy, this sixth year Gryffindor girl named Natalie, and I had a huge snowball fight. I ran all over the grounds, dodging flying ice and sending snowball after snowball at my opponents. My aim is pretty good, being an aspiring chaser and all, but after running around for so long, my legs were a bit tired, and my dodging skills were getting worse and worse. As a result, I was hit the most of any of us. Teddy even picked me up at one point and tossed me into a huge snowdrift. After three hours, we were all collapsed in a heap on the ground, laughing wildly.

Eventually it grew dark, and we all trudged inside, heading straight to the kitchens for hot chocolate. Teddy kept glancing at something in his pocket, and I thought I heard him mutter something to it, but I'm not sure. Ah well, if it's some strange new pet or something I hope it was getting enough air.

Christmas morning dawned bright and clear, though quite cold. I jumped up quickly, finding a large stack of presents at the foot of my bed. I reached for one, but felt rather lonely, as I was the only one in my dormitory. I scooped up all my presents and headed downstairs, intending to open them in front of the fire.

When I got down to the common room, I noticed that I wasn't the only one with this idea. Teddy was already there, sitting in an armchair in front of the fire, a turquoise sweater on over his pajamas. He smiled when he saw me, and motioned me to the armchair next to him. A few seconds later, Ian came down as well, carrying his presents. All the dorms must be feeling a bit lonely.

The three of us sat around the fire, opening our presents and laughing. I munched on my chocolate frogs from Teddy as I pulled on my new purple sweater with a large green V. We all gasped when Teddy opened his present from Uncle Harry – a new Nimbus 3000 broomstick.

I went over and admired it. Hey, you can't blame me, it was an awesome broom! It had just come out about two months ago. Anyway, it was awesome. "You might want to sleep with your eyes open, Teddy," laughed Ian. "Vic looks like she's gonna steal it and never give it back."

I laughed along with the other two, but I was thinking that it didn't sound like a bad idea.

After lunch, we had another snowball fight, though it was nowhere near as massive as the last one. By the time Christmas dinner came, we were exhausted. I walked in, joking and talking, but being the amazingly balanced person I am, managed to trip across the floor and tumble face-first into a dish of mashed potatoes.

Everyone roared with laughter, and I could feel my face glow red under the coating of potato. I grabbed a napkin and tried to rub it all off, but failed. Teddy, still laughing uncontrollably, leaned over and helped me get some of the potato out of my hair. Once my face was more or less clean and the laughter had died down, I looked around the Hall. It was simply beautiful. Twelve magnificent trees stood around the walls, and streamers crisscrossed their way across the ceiling. Enchanted snow floated down, drifting onto the table, but never touching the food or plates.

The food was, as always, delicious. I ate until I was stuffed, and couldn't possibly eat another bite. I chatted with Ian and Teddy for a while, even talking more to Natalie, and her friend Susie. By the time dinner was over, I felt like I wouldn't be able to eat again for months, and certainly wouldn't be able to move. But of course, I managed to haul myself up (very carefully, so as not to trip again) and make my way up to Gryffindor Tower, where I collapsed into bed, not even bothering to change.


	6. Why Teddy is my Favorite Not Cousin

**A/N:** Hi! Thanks to all my reviewers! Luv you guys! I'm sorry this one is so short, it was originally going to be part of the last chapter, but I decided it would be better separated. Anyway, I really hope you like it! Please review and tell me what you think! Correct my grammar, add ideas, give me suggestions, anything and everything you can pack into a review!

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The day after Christmas was beautiful. The sun shone, but there was still snow shining blindingly on the ground. At breakfast, Teddy declared it to be perfect Quidditch conditions, and said he could give me a lesson today if I wanted. Of course I agreed, and hopped up to get ready as soon as breakfast was over.

Ten minutes later, I was bundled up and standing on the Quidditch Pitch, a school broom (the horrors!) clutched in my hand. I waited for Teddy to come down, pacing around and rubbing my hands together. A few minutes later he arrived, and I smiled as I saw that we were both wearing our Weasley Sweaters.

"Okay, Vic!" he said excitedly. "I know you can fly well, so I'm going to help you with your Chaser abilities. Wait here a second." Teddy hurried off, returning a minute later with the Quaffle. He brought it over and tossed it to me. I caught it automatically. "Good!" he said. "Now let's work on some passing in the air."

We grabbed our brooms and took off into the sky, floating above the white ground in a brilliant winter sky. Chill wind whipped around my face, and I felt free and careless. It was an amazing feeling, though slightly uncomfortable because of the cold.

I threw the ball to Teddy as he passed me, and he caught it. He motioned for me to fly around the pitch, so I did. As I came closer to him, he dropped the ball for me to catch. I sped up, angling myself downwards slightly, so I passed right under the ball and was able to snatch it from the air. Teddy grinned and applauded. "Okay, let's work on some harder plays," he said, flying over to grab the ball from me.

After about three hours, we were both exhausted, having flown hard in the biting wind, so we decided it was time to stop and go back up to the castle. "See you up at the castle! I have to put my broom back up in the broomshed," I said.

"I can put it up for you," he volunteered.

"Thanks, but it's okay," I laughed, smiling at his thoughtfulness. Now you see why he's my favorite cousin (or not-cousin). He's always willing to help me, like giving me flying lessons. "I can put it up myself, it's not far."

With that, I turned and headed off to the broomshed, waving at him over my shoulder. When I got there, I hurriedly replaced my borrowed school broom – it was very cold – and turned to go back to the castle, where there was hot chocolate and warm fire places. But just as I passed the edge of the shed, I heard a voice.

"So," it drawled, "You're so bad at Quidditch you need private lessons? Surely you could have found a better teacher, even with the limited selection." Pravus. Ughh. It took all my self-restraint to avoid wheeling around and beating him senseless. For one thing, I'm a bit sensitive about my Quidditch skills. For another, as I have said earlier, no one insults my family and gets away with it.

"What would you know? You wouldn't recognize good Quidditch strategy if it hit you over the head." Which was exactly what I felt like doing as I rotated slowly on the spot to face him. Yup, Pravus. His face was growing steadily redder. This guy really can't take an insult. Talk about drama-queen.

"You – you, you little," he began.

"Ooo, stuttering. I'm really scared now." Yes, yes, I know, okay? It was brave, reckless, and very stupid. But hey, I am a Gryffindor.

He pulled out his wand, pointing it at me and muttering something. A blue light shot out of it. I quickly jumped aside, avoiding the jinx by an inch. I pulled out my wand as well, trying to think of a spell to use. Honestly, all I could think of was Alohomora and Wingardium Leviosa, neither of which seemed very helpful right then.

Pravus shot another spell at me, which I successfully dodged once more. Suddenly I remembered a story Uncle Harry had told me, and cried, "Locomotor Mortis!" Pravus' legs sprung together and he landed face-first in the snow. I ran for it.

Sprinting back up to the castle as fast as I could, all thoughts of hot chocolate and fire places were gone from my mind. I hurried back up to Gryffindor Tower where I saw Ian sitting by the fire. "What's wrong? What happened?" he asked worriedly as soon as he saw me. I realized I must look terrible. My hair, already wild from the snow in it, had escaped from my ponytail while I was running, and my face must be flushed.

I sat down next to him on the couch and smoothed my hair back into a neat ponytail. "Pravus." I told Ian the whole story, and he looked furious. I was seething as well, remembering his sneering face and insults.

Ian and I spent the next hour and a half planning our revenge, which involved a lot of complex and um, _interesting_ pranks. I was quite proud of them, especially one involving lots of purple goo, a cat, and a couple of acid pops. At one point, Teddy passed us, and I could have sworn he stopped for a moment and listened, but then he started walking again as if nothing had happened, so I couldn't be sure. We decided to carry out our plans in two days, as soon as we had gathered the required supplies.

Unfortunately, we never got the chance. The next time I saw Pravus, he was being escorted to the hospital wing covered in tentacles and green pus, and Teddy had detention.


	7. My Terrible Day

**A/N:** Ok, I am so insanely sorry it took so long, and thank you to all you guys who havent given up on me. I'm not gonna go into excuses for how long it took, cause i would probably just sound whiney. Anyway, i tried to make it up to you guys by putting some more drama into this chapter, but i don't think it really worked. well, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_Dear Vicky,_

_You know, I never thought I'd write this, but I miss you. Weird, isn't it? I thought maybe writing you might help, so here goes. Well, it's rather boring here. There's really little to do unless I want to help Aunt Hermione clean. Oh yeah, I should mention that I'm at Uncle Ron and Aunt Mione's house. Louis is here, too, but he's off somewhere with Uncle Ron. _

_Last night we all had a big dinner at the Burrow. It was the same as usual, you know, pranks, jokes, running around until midnight, all that good stuff. But something kind of strange happened. Aunt Hermione was trying to teach Al to say her name, but he couldn't. The closest he came was "Hermyny." The strange thing was that at one point he said something that sounded like "Hermy-o-ninny." Uncle Ron's ears turned red and Aunt Hermione started blushing, but Uncle Harry was cracking up. Aunt Ginny seemed to think it was amusing as well, but she seemed to be trying to contain herself for Aunt Hermione's sake. No one else seemed to know what it was about. They all thought they were crazy or something. _

_Anyway, that was your little update from home. I guess I'll see you in a few months._

_ Love your favorite sister,_

_ Dominique_

_P.S. Everyone sends their love to you and Teddy._

I read through the letter, laughing at the strange antics of my family. The "trio" as we sometimes called them, had so many inside jokes that we didn't even bother questioning them anymore. As I was about to set the paper down on the table to finish my breakfast, it disappeared from my hand.

"Teddy," I groaned, reaching to try and grab my letter back. "You know that's rude. It could be personal."

"Aw, but why would you want to hide something from me?" he asked, shooting me a puppy dog face. I shook my head at him, laughing. "Besides, it mentions me, see?" he pointed at the P.S.

"Whatever," I replied, grabbing the box that had come with the letter. It was some candy from my family, mostly Uncle Ron. "Here." I tossed some of the contents at Teddy, who caught it easily.

He shoved a peppermint toad in his mouth and said, "By the way, I'm free on Saturday if you want another Quidditch lesson."

"That'd be awesome!" I exclaimed around a mouthful of candy. Teddy grinned and stood up, waving as he walked off to his first class, hands full of sweets. That was when I realized the time. I needed to hurry up or I'd be late to Transfiguration. I stuffed the rest of the candy into my bag and hurried off, looking forward to Saturday.

* * *

The rain pelted me as I swerved, trying to catch the red ball. We'd been out here practicing for two hours, and we were both soaked through. I groaned, frustrated, as the Quaffle slipped through my outstretched fingers and plummeted toward the ground. Again.

Teddy streaked past me to grab the Quaffle before it hit the muddy pitch. "Can't you catch _one_!?" he shouted up to me angrily.

"Apparently not!" I shouted back, hurt by his comment. It just wasn't like Teddy; he was always so nice to me. "Maybe I could if I had a better teacher!"

"Well maybe you should go find one!" We were both back on the ground by now, Teddy holding the Quaffle against his chest.

"Maybe I will!" And with that, I marched off, some of the effect lost as I tripped in a mud puddle. I could see Teddy move as if to help me, but I jumped up and ran off, wiping the mud from my eyes.

I didn't know why I was so angry. Or why Teddy was, to be honest. He had been so cheerful on Thursday, coming and stealing my letter. It was true that it hadn't been the best lesson; out in the pouring rain (I hadn't let him talk me out of it). And okay, so maybe I hadn't caught a single pass in two hours, but I was just having an off day. It was no reason for Teddy to get mad and yell at me.

As I stomped into the Entrance Hall, I could feel a tear trace its way down my cheek. Great. Now I was crying. Could this day get any worse? Wait. Bad question.

I was in such a bad mood that it took me a moment to realize I was being followed. Tagging along a few feet behind me was some random Hufflepuff guy I didn't know. I thought he might be a second or third year. He was wearing an idiotic expression, his mouth hanging slightly open. Dang veela charms. Why couldn't they come with an off switch?

After he had followed me up two flights of stairs I was fed up. I turned around and gave him my most ferocious growl. The combination of puffy eyes, flushed cheeks, and wet, wild hair must have given my growl an edge, because he went scampering off.

I congratulated myself and continued on my way. Then, on the fifth floor, there he was. Stupid guy. He followed me all the way up to the seventh floor. I ran as fast as I could to the entrance to Gryffindor tower, not even noticing the odd looks I was getting. I dove through the portrait hole as soon as the Fat Lady swung open, and continued running until I was up in my dormitory.

There, I sunk down onto the floor next to my bed and stared out the window. The rain was still pounding against the glass. I decided to take a shower and change, so I heaved myself off the floor and got ready. Thirty minutes later, I was clean and dressed, sitting on my bed.

My eye caught on the pictures on my nightstand. There was a picture of me and Teddy when we were little, playing on the beach by Shell Cottage. Anger bubbled inside me again.

Who did Teddy think he was to insult my flying? He knew how hard I was trying. He agreed to teach me, knowing full well I was only a first year, and couldn't be expected to be perfect. So how dare he be angry with me!

I stomped off downstairs in search of Meghan. I needed someone to rant to. However, she wasn't in the common room, and I couldn't find her anywhere else, so I decided to do some homework. I had just finished a very difficult potions essay when someone walked up to me.

I looked up, expecting Meghan or Ian, but say Teddy instead. He was looking remorseful, and I felt my heart tug a little, begging me to forgive him. _No._

"Look," he said, "I'm really sor – " The rest of his sentence was cut off as I jumped up. Teddy had knocked over my ink bottle, drenching both me and my freshly finished potions essay. I shrieked loudly at Teddy and dashed up the stairs to my dormitory, shooting him a dirty glare as I ran.

* * *

I glared out my window. The rain had finally cleared. And the stars were shining brightly. Ugh.

Today had been terrible, truly and utterly terrible. The flying lesson, the rain, the ink, the stalker guy, the essay, the whole day was a disaster. And I was now not speaking to one of my best friends. Why was life so cruel?

The sky was beautiful tonight, as if it was mocking me. Oh wow, I'm being dramatic. But the moon was stunning for some reason. A beautiful full moon. And all the stars –

Wait. A full moon? Oh. That explained why Teddy had been so angry. He always gets cranky around the full moon. But what he said still hurt. But he probably hadn't meant it. And by the look on his face earlier, he really was sorry.

I wasn't ready to forgive him yet, but his chances for tomorrow were looking much better.


	8. The Best Friends in the World

**A/N: **i didn't get it up saturday like i said i would, but I tried! i really did. but, well, its here now, so enjoy!

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, I was in a pretty good mood. I had decided to forgive Teddy, as it wasn't really his fault he was so grouchy. It was expected that a part-werewolf might be a little touchy around the full moon.

Anyway, I was trying to find him to apologize for yelling at him when I heard him talking to someone. I think it was his friend Justin. "What's up with you dude? You've been all upset since you gave Victoire a flying lesson yesterday."

I could hear Teddy reply, "We got into a bit of a shouting match. But it's not my fault she was so terrible. I mean, she couldn't even keep her broom straight!"

"It was pouring rain!"

"So?"

"So you're not at all sorry for yelling at her?"

"Nope, not really. If she keeps flying like that she'll never make any team."

"Are you okay? You don't sound like you."

I ran before I could hear anything else. Why would Teddy say that? He knew I was trying. Last time he thought I would be able to make the team first year if I was allowed. There was no way I was forgiving him now. As I turned the corner I saw Teddy and Justin talking, but they stopped as I raced past.

* * *

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No, not really," I sighed, looking at Meghan above the book I was pretending to read. She nodded and didn't press the issue. This was one of the reasons I loved Meghan, she knew when to stop talking. She came over and gave me a hug. I hugged her back, needing the comfort. This was the first real fight Teddy and I had gotten into.

We both glanced up when we heard Ian's voice coming from the portrait hole. A few moments later Ian entered . . . and so did Teddy.

"I have to talk to her," pleaded Teddy.

"I don't think she really wants to hear from you," argued Ian defensively. I had the best friends in the world, I decided.

Meghan stood up and joined Ian. "I don't know what you did, but you are gonna pay."

"Please just let me talk to her!" Teddy exclaimed, trying to get past them. I glared at him. After a second, he broke through Ian and Meghan, hurrying over to me. He sat next to me on the couch, and I automatically scooted farther away.

"Vicky, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of –" he broke off as I leveled a signature "Victoire-death-glare" at him. "Please," he said in a small voice that tugged at my heartstrings. But I wasn't ready to forgive him. "I'm really sorry."

"Go away," I told him childishly.

"Vic, please, I'm really really sorry!"

"I don't want to hear it!" I exclaimed, jumping up from the couch. I ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, Meghan following me. I could tell she was glaring over her shoulder at Teddy.

When I got up to my dorm, I collapsed on my bed, tears pricking my eyes. I hated being mad at Teddy, it just didn't feel right. He had always been my best friend, the one who was always there for me. I knew this really wasn't his entire fault; he was always a little out of whack around the full moon. But this time he had been just plain mean.

I rolled over to face Meghan, who had sat down on her bed. She cocked an eyebrow. I gave a half-hearted smile and nodded. Pulling myself up, I started to explain what had happened with Teddy. Meghan's expression got more disapproving as I continued, but she also came over to my bed and gave me another hug.

When I was finished with my story, she decided I needed to be cheered up. Pulling on sweaters, we snuck down the stairs and out the portrait hole. We tip-toed through the chilly castle towards the kitchens.

Upon arriving, we were bombarded with little tiny house elves. "What can Winky get for you ma'am?" asked one very nice elf. I had helped Aunt Hermione work on a bill for house elf rights last summer, and was completely in agreement.

"Anything chocolate!" Meghan declared. We were practically pushed into chairs as three house elves came whizzing up carrying trays full of chocolate delicacies. Soon we were laughing and joking our way through ice cream, pastries, and candies. After a while we were full, and just sat around talking.

"So did you hear that Lorelei has a huge crush on Thomas?" I asked, tossing the spoon back in the tub of chocolate ice cream.

"Yeah," she replied. "That must be terrible. Everyone knows he's completely enamored with Rebecca."

I giggled. "Ooh, enamored. Big words!"

"Mmhmm." She shifted her hot chocolate to the side. "I gotta go to the bathroom, but I'll be back in a minute, 'kay?" I nodded vaguely, yawning. Meghan grinned at my attempt to hide it and hurried out the door of the kitchens.

This was definitely what I had needed. I had almost completely forgotten about Teddy, and when I was full with this much chocolate, I couldn't get too worked up.

I heard the door open again, and called to Meghan without looking up. "That was quick."

She didn't answer, and I glanced up to find none other than Teddy slipping into the seat next to me. "Go away," I said stubbornly.

"No. Please Vicky, just let me talk to you. I'm really sorry." Being the stubborn, not so greatly coordinated Victoire that I am, I stood up, turning my face away, and promptly tripped over my own foot. I landed in Teddy's arms as he jumped up to catch me.

Just as I was trying to push myself out of his arms (which wasn't really working because I would fall every time I tried), the door opened again. I looked up, expecting Meghan this time, but no. Just my luck, it was Pravus. Seriously, what had I done to deserve this?

Fighting back a headache, I pulled myself from Teddy's arms, tripped on _his_ foot and landed straight back in his arms . . . again.

Pravus put on his signature smirk and sneered, "Oh look, the two lovebirds. How lovely." Forgetting my clumsiness altogether, I launched myself at Pravus, but was cut off by Teddy.

He punched Pravus in the jaw and I heard a crunch, one that I was pretty sure was not Teddy's hand. "Leave Victoire alone!" he growled protectively. He took a menacing step towards the quivering second year. This was turning into quite the show. Well, it would have been if I didn't care so much.

"If you hurt her, curse her, or annoy her in any way again, you won't be able to move for a month!" You know, I guess this whole really-bad-mood-because-of-the-full-moon thing wasn't all bad.

Pravus, who looked about to cry, the big baby, took a step backwards and glared at me. "So you can't even fight your own battles, can you?!" he declared, trying to recover some of his dignity. How stupid.

This time Teddy's fist connected with Pravus' ear, which immediately turned purple. Now, I'm not a healer, but even I know that had to hurt. Pravus seemed to get the hint, and ran out of the kitchens without looking back.

I turned to Teddy, who was shaking with rage. Cautiously, I stepped forward and lay a hand on his arm. As he turned to face me, I whispered, "Thank you."

"Vicky, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I – " he was cut off when I pulled him into a big hug. Suddenly, I felt right again. I need to remember never to fight with Teddy, it makes me feel so terrible.

When Meghan came back a few minutes later, she found me and Teddy laughing and sharing a chocolate cake. She glared at Teddy for a second, before he changed his face and hair to match hers and glared right back. Stifling a giggle, she looked at me. I nodded, and she smiled.

We finally got back to the dormitory about two or so in the morning, still laughing. Teddy kissed my cheek as I went up the girls staircase. I smiled, remembering the look on Pravus' face earlier. I really do have the best friends in the world.


	9. I Hate Mondays

**A/N: **so here's another chapter! this is a two parter, so the next part, including the party, should be up . . . soonish. or not, it depends on how much time i have. anyway, i want to thank PlatoLuvr-08, thanks for all your help and ideas! I hope y'all enjoy, and please review!

* * *

I hate Mondays. They really shouldn't be allowed at all; they're just too painful, tearing you out of your nice, warm bed super early after a nice, relaxing, sleep-till-three weekend, forcing you back into the hectic whirl of classes and homework. Yeah, I hate Mondays.

And it really didn't help that on this particular Monday, my two best friends decided to ignore me. For no reason. Or at least, I hope they have a reason, because otherwise that's just not cool. Either way, they didn't decide to let me in on the little secret of why they suddenly didn't like me. I just came down to breakfast and sat next to them like I did every day. As soon as I sat down, they stopped talking, looked at me and then each other, and kept on talking, ignoring me. A few minutes later, they still hadn't said a word to me. What was going on?

So I grabbed my plate and stood up, searching for somewhere else to sit. There! I walked over to a seat near the end of the long table, where Teddy was sitting alone, looking like something was bothering him. I knew how to deal with him when he was down, so I slid onto the bench next to him without saying a word. We passed a minute or two in companionable silence, eating our breakfast.

"What brings you to the reject table?" asked Teddy suddenly. I looked up, smiling.

"You looked so lonely, I thought you could use the company." Okay, so not exactly the truth, but it was Monday morning. "Why are _you_ here?"

"Justin and Ben decided to randomly ignore me." I looked at him oddly for a moment. Either they're up to something, or this is like the world's biggest coincidence. "Why are you staring at me?"

I blinked; I hadn't realized I was staring. "It's just weird," I said. "Meghan and Ian are ignoring me too."

Teddy looked puzzled, but then put on a fake hurt expression. "So you didn't come here just to comfort a lonely Teddy?"

I giggled. "Oops. My secret's out," I joked. He started laughing too.

"Well," started Teddy. "Today isn't all bad. I got a letter from Scorp!"

"Um, isn't he like five or something?"

Scorpius is Teddy's third cousin or something, but they're actually pretty close. I've never met him, but Teddy thinks he's awesome. I find it amusing, somehow, that the person who was raised by Harry Potter and the son of Draco Malfoy are such fantastic friends.

"Aunt Astoria helped him." Teddy calls her aunt, even though she actually isn't. "He's learning to read and write." I looked over at the page Teddy was showing me, covered in little kid writing, and dotted in a few places with a very-non-little-kid cursive. I smiled, an involuntary reaction to little kid writing.

I had just opened my mouth to respond when McGonagall stepped up to the podium at the front of the hall and cleared her throat. The hall fell silent, a bit sluggishly, but it was Monday.

"If I may have your attention!" Everyone turned to look at her, wondering what she had to say.

"As many of you know, the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and downfall of Voldemort is next week. This is a time for celebration and remembrance, and very important for many of your families. I have been convinced by our Head Boy and Girl," here she nodded at a tall Ravenclaw guy and a Gryffindor girl I think was named Alyssa. "to have, in honor of the occasion, a party. I have also been persuaded to make it a . . ." she hesitated, as if not sure that whatever she had been persuaded into wasn't a very good idea. "a costume party."

A cheer went up from all the tables, even the Slytherins. It occurred to me that a costume party was a rather odd way of celebrating the downfall, and remembering the battle, but that didn't really matter in the face of an awesome party. McGonagall's mouth gave a twitch that resembled a smile and stepped down from the podium.

I turned to Teddy to comment on the party, and in the process glimpsed Ian and Meghan. They had moved and were talking quietly to Justin and Ben. Oh no, not good.

"Teddy, I think I just had a not-so-good epiphany."

"Huh?" he asked, turning to see what I was looking at.

"Well," I said, "they may be ignoring us . . ."

"But they're not ignoring each other," he finished for me. Well, he caught on fast.

We looked at each other. "You don't think . . . Vic, they couldn't be plotting revenge could they?"

I glanced back at the four again. "Yeah, well, that was a mega-awesome prank we pulled on them last week. But that's not fair, they have four people! We only had two."

"We had access to tons of WWW products though," Teddy reasoned.

"I hate Mondays," I groaned. Teddy groaned too. We looked at each other and started laughing. We were still laughing when we noticed that most people were leaving.

"Time for class!" Teddy pulled me up from the bench, picking up my school bag and handing it to me. I waved at him and hurried off to Potions. I was just in time, sliding into a bench next to Thomas, because Meghan and Ian were still muttering, glancing at me every so often. Oh yeah, some definite revenge plotting going on there.

Unfortunately, the class was just a lecture. Professor Zabini was annoying, mean, and unfairly partial to Slytherins, so I didn't feel too bad about ignoring him.

"Certain ingredients will effect others in different ways, enhancing or counteracting them . . ."

A costume party. What should I dress up as? I could be original and be something Muggle I had learned about from Aunt Hermione. I could be Marilyn Monroe, or maybe Audrey Hepburn - those movies Aunt Hermione had showed me were pretty awesome.

" . . . Other ingredients may be used to get rid of side effects. For example, a sprig of mint can counterbalance excessive nose-tweaking brought on by a euphoria potion . . ."

Or I could be very unoriginal and dress up as a member of the Weird Sisters or something. I contemplated this one, at least until I heard Carly whispering that she was going to be a Weird Sister. Well that idea's out.

" . . . To find such an ingredient, you must review the other ingredients of the potion, and their properties . . ."

What if I asked to borrow Aunt Ginny's old Holyhead Harpies uniform? That would be pretty cool. I could ask Elena, a really nice seventh year, to transfigure my hair red, and then I could dress up as Aunt Ginny! But it would be a bit odd to dress up as my aunt.

". . . and then add the extra ingredient, observing the effects closely . . ."

Maybe I could modify my first idea. I could dress up as a princess or something from a Muggle fairytale. I bet no one else would do that. Aunt Mione had told me some really interesting ones. I could still remember Uncle Ron asking if Cinderella was a disease when I was over at their house. Cinderella! No, not the disease, the princess! That could be an awesome costume! I didn't hear any more of the lesson as I sat and planned my outfit. I sketched a few ideas before finally settling on one. You know, maybe Mondays aren't so bad after all.

I looked over at Meghan and Ian. They were sketching something as well, and seemed to be debating something. Okay, yeah, there are still some parts of Mondays I hate.


	10. What's That, An Illness?

**A/N: okay, so I am covered in rice. really. we had Chinese food for dinner, and I was trying to get some more out of the box, but then it all fell on me. not only did I not get rice, but I'm now covered in the stickyness. Anyway, here's today's fortune: "It's always worth taking the trouble to praise people." So ponder that.**

** I'm not actually very happy with this chapter. I had so many ideas, but I just kept finding problems with them. Oh well, here it is anyways. Hope ya like it!**

**Disclaimer: hmm, I don't think I've done a disclaimer before. Kinda a whim. Well, I don't own harry potter. I do own lots of hello kitty stickers though! **

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Top Ten Reasons I Hate Fancy Dresses:

They're uncomfortable

They're hard to get on

They're uncomfortable

They're noisy

They're uncomfortable

They're pointless

They're uncomfortable

They're difficult to walk in

They're uncomfortable

I tried to think of a tenth reason as I walked down the corridor with Ian and Meghan. It wasn't that I disliked all dresses; I just really could have done without ball gowns. But I had to admit – the dress I was wearing for my Cinderella costume was pretty amazing. The bodice was structured, with slightly poufy sleeves down to about my elbows, and a really poufy skirt. The whole thing was a beautiful shimmery blue.

I had been forced into it.

Meghan had helped me find a costume, and while I was all for a modern remake of the fairytale princess, she insisted I wear this dress. Hmm, it was growing on me, I had to admit.

The pounding music could be heard all the way down the corridor from the Great Hall, where the party was being held. We were about ten minutes late, so the three of us hurried up, trying not to trip over Ian's trailing bandages. Yup, a mummy. So original, right?

We reached the door and peeked inside. It was a huge mass of costumed people dancing in the middle of the floor. About half of them were wearing masks, like me and Meghan. Edging into the room, I was pleased to see that no one else had dressed as Cinderella. Going with a Muggle character had obviously been a good idea.

So you would assume that since I'm part veela I'm an amazing dancer, right? Well, you would be wrong. About as wrong as you would be if you were to assume I was graceful and poised. Yeah, clumsiness isn't a big helper with the dance situation. This would be why I was none too happy about Meghan and Lorelei pulling out onto the dance floor. Even so, it was a song I really liked (a cover from some old band called the Weird Sisters that my Aunt Ginny really likes), so I was soon doing my best to just dance and forget my awkwardness. Even so, people were still giving me about a two foot radius, though whether this was due to my large skirt or tendency to step on peoples' toes I'm not sure.

About five dance tunes and twenty minutes later it switched to a slow song, and I quickly made my escape to the refreshments table. I grabbed some punch and sat down in an empty chair towards the edge of the room. It was interesting just to watch people. Over there was a pirate dancing with a faerie, and next to them a mermaid and a vampire. I laughed at the people dressed up as Harry Potter. And yes, there were quite a few Harry impersonators. My choice of costume seemed cooler and cooler as I looked around and saw multiple Quidditch players as well, quite a few of them sporting Holyhead Harpies robes.

As I was sitting and watching the dancing, Jessamine, dressed as an angel, came up and started talking at about 400 words per minute. "Oh my gosh! Is that you Victoire? Of course it is. You look so pretty. I mean, you always look pretty and everything, but you look older too, well, you always seem to be older than you are because you're so tall, but that dress!! OH, and your hair, I love it! You have to show me how to do that, and the tiara! Oh my gosh you really look like your fourteen or fifteen or something, your costume is so beautiful! Who are you? Oh, you must be a princess! Aren't you dressed as someone from a Muggle fairytale or something? Someone said you are. That's so awesome, and really original, because, I mean, most people wouldn't think to dress up as something from the Muggle world. . ."

I was laughing slightly, amazed that she had said all this in only about two breaths. "You're costume is really pretty," I said, smiling.

"Really? Thanks, I worked so hard to find a dress that would work, and some realistic wings too, because they were all either too colorful or for really little kids. But then my mum sent some she had found, and they just went perfectly with this dress! I almost didn't even bring the dress this year, because we don't usually have fancy stuff, but I just loved it so much! I got it for Easter last year, and my little sister got a matching one, and it was sooo cute!"

Before Jessamine could say any more, some guy walked over to where we were sitting. He was pretty cute, with longish brown hair and a Quidditch costume. I vaguely recognized him, maybe he was that Ravenclaw third year, what's-his-name . . . Mark?

"Hi," he smiled, glancing at Jessamine before turning to me. "I'm Chris." Okay, so maybe he wasn't Mark. "Wanna dance?" Wait, what?

I looked over at Jessamine, who smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. "Uh, sure," I said, standing up. Why not?

We walked over to the dance floor, where another slow song was starting. He put his hands on my waist, and I placed mine on his shoulders. We swayed in time with the music, not really dancing. Okay, this was officially awkward. At least I couldn't trip if I wasn't moving.

Knock on wood.

"So, you're in Gryffindor, right?" You think he would have asked my name or something, but okay.

"Yeah, I'm Victoire."

"That's a cool name. Are you French?"

"My mom is; she went to Beauxbatons."

"Cool."

And let the awkwardness resume.

We just stood there and swayed for a few minutes. Eventually the song was over, and we smiled at each other awkwardly and moved away. Yeah, I used the word awkward a lot. There's a reason for that.

As the music resumed, I noticed it was yet _another_ slow song. I made my way over to where Meghan was getting punch. When I got there, I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when she held up her finger, giggling, and pointed at something. That something was Ian, talking to Stacey. I started giggling too as he shot us a glare. Oh, it was so cute, I mean, Stacey was even blushing.

Just then I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find Teddy. He was dressed as a – well, honestly, I'm not sure what he was dressed as. He had just gone crazy with his metamorphosing. His hair was rainbow striped, he had one purple eyebrow and one green, his nose was a pig snout, he had over-exaggerated his ears, and his skin was stained slightly blue.

"Hi!" I said brightly.

He smiled and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the dance floor. I raised my eyebrow and he laughed. "Just fulfilling my duty to make sure you have a good time." The music had turned to a faster song.

"You could have tried harder with your costume," I said as he spun me around.

"What? I put a lot of effort into this, thank you very much!"

"I don't see any difference," I teased, looking at his features critically.

Teddy pretended to be offended, and twirled me again, letting go of my hand halfway through. I immediately tripped and started falling, but he caught me, laughing. Mock-glaring at him, I punched his arm lightly, accidently stepping on his toes. He pretended not to notice.

"So I see Meghan and Ian are talking to you again."

"Yeah, are Justin and Ben back to normal too?"

"Yup. I have chosen to be very suspicious. We're gonna have to keep our guard up." I nodded my agreement.

We kept dancing until the end of the song, and I forgot about trying not to step on his feet. Luckily for him, he was very adept at dodging such clumsiness.

After the song was over, he waved, moving off to where I could see his friends. I waved back and made my way to Meghan, who was talking to Lorelei, Thomas, and Jake, a Hufflepuff in our year.

"Hey guys!" I said, and for some reason Lorelei stared at me in horror, and Jake was just plain staring. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," said Meghan, coming over and straightening my tiara. "But you're getting hyper."

Oh. Yeah, that was some pretty sugary punch. Jake was still staring at me, so I turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Oh my god, Victoire?" he sounded shocked. I wasn't really sure if I should be offended or not. "You look like you're a fifth year or something!"

Isn't that what Jessamine had just been saying? Hmm, must be true.

Lorelei and Meghan nodded in agreement. "All the guys here are staring at you. I don't think most of them recognize you."

I rolled my eyes and started talking about other peoples' costumes. We were just laughing at some of the weirder ones when I felt another tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I was face to face with Blake Saunders, who was widely acknowledged as the hottest guy in fourth year.

He smiled at me and I felt my stomach jerk a little. "Do you want to dance?" he asked, still smiling.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As he led me off to the dance floor, where a slow song had conveniently just started playing, I glanced back at my friends, who were all staring at me a bit awestruck. Well, the girls were.

Willing myself not to trip, I put my arms on his shoulders and we started swaying. I was hoping it wouldn't be awkward like trying to dance with Chris.

"That's a really cool costume. Is it something Muggle, 'cause I don't really recognize it."

"Yeah, it's a Muggle fairytale. I'm supposed to be Cinderella."

"What's that, an illness?" I burst out laughing, and he chuckled too, even though he obviously didn't get the joke.

"No," I corrected, still giggling. "It's a princess."

"Oh," he said, still not really understanding why I was laughing. "Your laugh is pretty. It's contagious." I grinned at him, elated.

We continued dancing, and it was really nice. Not awkward like dancing with Chris had been.

The song ended, and I started to move away, but Blake caught my hand. "Want to go for a walk?" he asked.

I nodded. We moved out into the gardens. We just walked and talked for a while, discussing the party. Eventually we had made a circle, and were back by the doors again. Blake looked at me and started leaning in, as if in a trance. Oh my gosh, was he going to kiss me? Did I want to be kissed?

I turned my head at the last second, and his lips brushed my cheek. "No," I deadpanned.

He ignored me and tried to kiss me again. I punched him. My fist connected with his face, and his eyes widened. But still he didn't give up. Either he was a real jerk, or this was my unwanted Veela powers making themselves known.

Or both. Whatever it was, I did not appreciate it.

I tried to get his hands off my waist. No go. Pulling my arm back, I punched him again. He stopped trying to kiss me, but didn't let go of my waist.

As I was just about to hit him again, he was gone. Oh wait, there he was, over there. Being beaten to a pulp by Teddy, whose hair was bright, flaming red. I had a strange sense of déjà vu, and probably could have figured out why if my head wasn't so confused.

By the time I remembered to move, Blake appeared to have a broken nose and was in a crumpled heap on the ground.

I kinda hated him at this moment, but thought I should do something. "Teddy."

He ignored me. "Teddy!" No response. "Theodore Lupin, don't kill him!" I screamed.

Teddy stopped and looked at me, then back down at Blake, then at me again. I could see his reluctance as he moved towards me, but he stopped destroying Blake's face. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the Entrance Hall, leaving Blake on the ground. He deserved it.

By some unspoken agreement Teddy and I headed past he Grand Hall and back to the common room. Neither of us really felt like partying at the moment. When we got there, Teddy was no longer breathing so hard, and his hair was slowly turning turquoise.

I felt so tired I was about to collapse. I could tell it was probably almost midnight, but the party wouldn't be over for a while.

"Thank you." I said, giving Teddy a big hug. He returned it, and I could tell he was calming down. When I looked up his hair was completely blue.

He let go and kissed my forehead. I felt something slide onto my wrist. It was a bracelet. I smiled. It was a tradition, like the chocolate frogs.

"Thanks," I smiled, and then yawned.

Teddy let out a quiet laugh, though he was obviously still upset. "Go to bed." He pushed me towards the stairs.

I started up the staircase, still yawning. "Vic!" he called. I turned around. "Happy Birthday."

* * *

**For all you Maximum Ride fans out there, I did in fact loosely base Jessamine off of Nudge. I figure every story should have a chatterbox. :D**

**Hope you enjoyed it! I know I said there would be something with Pravus, but I couldn't think of how to work him into the chapter, so now Teddy has a new enemy! And this time its someone older, and he still beat them to a pulp! Yay Teddy! Please review!**


	11. Victoire the Clumsy Banshee Ballerina!

**A/N: okay, so i really am sorry about the wait. I've had the first half of this chapter done for almost a month, but couldn't find the time or inspiration to finish it. I finally did though, so yay!**

**I really really really need prank ideas, for both this and another story. i can't update until i have a good idea for the prank ian, meghan, justin, and ben will play on teddy and vic. so please give me suggestions!**

**please enjoy and all that! anyone who reviews gets lots of smiles and a cookie!  
**

I stared up at the ceiling of the dormitory, wishing I could see the stars beyond. My stomach rumbled loudly.

"Meghan," I whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"I'm hungry." My stomach rumbled right on cue, emphasizing my point.

A similar sound came from the bed next to me. "I'm _starving_," she replied.

I turned my head to the side and found her staring back at me. The idea I'd had obviously occurred to her as well. "I'll go get Ian," I whispered, slipping out of bed and into my slippers. "He didn't eat either." Meghan nodded and went to grab our dressing gowns.

Slipping as silently as possible out of the dormitory, I tiptoed over to the boys' staircase. Usually I'm terrible at keeping quiet, but luck seemed to be on my side and I made it to his dorm without any mishaps. The door squeaked slightly as I opened it and I cringed. Ian had mentioned that Sebastian was a very light sleeper.

When I snuck in the room, however, no one seemed to have awakened. I heard a stomach growling from across the room and giggled. I made my way over to Ian's bed and looked down at him, staring at the ceiling as I had been just minutes before. "C'mon," I whispered almost silently to him.

He nodded once and began to get up. I waited for him and then we both snuck back down to the common room where Meghan was waiting for us, holding out my purple dressing gown. I slipped it on and we made our way out of the portrait hall and down the corridor.

We never spoke our destination aloud, but it was fairly obvious. We arrived at the kitchens quickly; we had practically run most of the way. Practically, because we all made such noise when we ran.

Entering the large room, we were immediately ambushed by helpful elves offering us food and drinks. Five minutes later we were seated at a table filled with treats of all kinds.

"That is the last time we visit Hagrid during dinner," Ian mumbled around a mouthful of roast beef.

"Mmmmm," I agreed, pushing more chocolate mousse onto a spoon.

"No, Vic, please don't eat just sugar!" Meghan begged me.

"You're eating almost as much as she is," Ian pointed out, swallowing his roast beef.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be in a room with her all night, and if she eats all that sugar, she's going to be so insanely hyper!"

I pouted, but picked up a brownie. Meghan tried to snatch it out of my hand. I chucked it at her head and grabbed a sandwich instead.

Meghan sighed, picking up a roll in one hand while using the other to pick gooey brownie bits out of her hair. I smiled at her and she stuck her tongue out at me.

We talked and ate for almost an hour, not wanting to go back upstairs. By the time we were just sitting around lazily scooping ice cream out of cartons, it was almost two in the morning. It was a Friday night though (well, technically it was Saturday morning by now); we didn't feel the need to freak out.

We decided we should head back to bed, despite the fact I was slowly growing more and more hyper, just as Meghan had predicted, and the other two weren't much calmer. Because of this we were rather louder than we should have been, which was not a very good idea.

Ian deciding to tickle me was not the brightest idea of the night either. I collapsed laughing onto Meghan, pulling Ian with me, and together the three of us fell straight onto a suit of armor.

CRASH!

As the sound echoed through the hallways, we looked at each other. "Crap," Ian whispered.

I thought he summed it up quite nicely.

_Detention Slip_

_Student(s): Ian McCampbell, Victoire Weasley, and Meghan Wood_

_Crime: Out of bed and wandering castle after hours_

_Punishment: Detention: cleaning floor of Great Hall without magic_

_Signed: Cassidy Merryweather_

"Ick!"

"Double ick!"

"Triple Ick!"

"Quadruple Ick!"

"Uh . . . quintuple ick?"

"You both are so dramatic," called Ian from across the hall, ending mine and Meghan's ick fest. "It's not that bad!"

I tossed my rag at him, but it fell short. "That's what you think; you're cleaning under the teacher table. They obviously have better table manners than students."

"Yeah," agreed Meghan, tossing back my rag from where it had fallen a few feet from her. "And a better percentage of getting the food in their mouths too!"

Ian just shrugged unsympathetically and continued working, infuriatingly indifferent to our plight. "We're making him clean the Gryffindor table," I muttered to Meghan, nodding toward the messiest piece of the floor. She giggled and agreed.

We had been working for two hours already, and barely had half the floor done. I had never properly appreciated just how very huge the Great Hall really is. Filch had gleefully handed over buckets of soapy water and scrapers, mops and rags. How on Earth he managed to clean this was beyond me, as he seemed as ancient as the castle. But then again, he probably got house-elves to do it.

Meghan picked up a gnawed chicken bone with her rag and grimaced, tossing it in a bucket already filled with trash. "Sadly, I prefer this to what will happen when my parents hear about this. My mum will freak out!"

"Mine too. I don't think my dad will care all that much though."

"Wait, I though you said he was a head boy?"

"He was. But he's oddly cool for a parent. He probably caused a ton of trouble at school too."

Ian looked slightly jealous. "Wish I had a cool dad. Mine was head boy too, but he's a sickler for rules. My mum won't be as bad, though she won't be pleased."

"Your dad sounds like my Uncle Percy." I observed. "At least we didn't do anything terrible. It could have been a lot worse."

I hadn't noticed Meghan come up behind me until she flicked soapy water at me with her rag. "Yeah, like if you'd been caught for that prank you and Teddy pulled on us."

That reminded me, they still hadn't gotten any kind of revenge. They were obviously planning it though, if this hint meant anything. I was going to have to double my cautiousness.

"That would have been bad. Uncle George knew what we were up to though, he sent us the stuff."

"I wish I had an uncle that cool. Or one who knew where to get me that much purple goo," sighed Ian, gazing into space.

I laughed. Finishing the section of floor I was working on with a flourish, I got to my feet and set off towards the Ravenclaw table. Not paying attention to my feet, I didn't notice when I passed the area Ian had previously washed, or rather, dumped a large bucket of water on. One second I was walking, and the next I was sliding at an alarming pace straight for the teacher table.

I could hear Meghan and Ian laughing behind me, but I didn't pay attention as I flung my arms out, flailing wildly as I attempted not to fall. A shriek escaped my mouth when I saw where I was headed. It must have looked like something from a cartoon as I collided magnificently with the table and tumbled over the other side, flipping onto my back.

"Ow." What an understatement.

My side and back hurt, as did my head and the leg I had landed on. It wasn't bad enough to land me in the hospital wing, but I was going to have some wicked bruises in the morning.

The sound of footsteps hurried towards me, and I looked up just in time to see Ian reach out and help me up. I quickly sat on the bench and winced. Meghan had reached us by then, and was looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay?" they asked at the same time.

"Yeah," I said. Sure enough, the throbbing had subsided, and the dull pain left in its wake wasn't so bad. A few more concern-filled looks assured them I was in fact alright, and the two broke into peals of laughter again.

"That . . . was . . . hilarious!" Meghan gasped between giggles. Ian nodded his agreement.

Some friends I have. But eventually I started laughing too. I guess it probably did look pretty funny.

"You were like a clumsy ballerina!"

"A banshee!"

They looked at each other and screamed in unison. "Victoire, the clumsy banshee ballerina!"

Oh great, I have a new nickname.


	12. Toohs!

**Components of an Author's Note:**

**Salutation: Merlin's beard! There are still people reading this! I love y'all! **

**Apology: I am so so so so so so so so so so very sorry for this shameful lack of updates.**

**Excuses: So I knew I needed to write this chapter before the next chapter that I planned in my head, but I went ahead and wrote the next chapter anyway. I then decided I didn't like it and started over, so I'm still working on it and its pretty much the same thing.**

**What Will Make You Hate Me Even More: I worked on several other story ideas not related to POVP before working on this chapter. Yeah, I know, but the plot bunnies are evil!**

**Random Wisdom I Choose to Impart: My history teacher is the self-proclaimed King of the Macadamia Nuts.**

**Warning: long authors note and some rushed writing. The part at the end is kinda creepy though, so . . . just, be warned.**

**Disclaimer: You know it, I don't own it. Though I really wouldn't mind owning Teddy :D**

**0…..0**

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling much less sore than I had been ever since my . . . well, ballerina moment. I stretched my legs out in front of me and touched my toes, a smile creeping onto my face when I realized my back didn't give any protest, nor did my legs scream with pain.

I swung my legs over the side of my bed, shivering as my feet connected with the stone floor. Where did my rug go? One glance at the clock and empty beds around me told me I really needed to get up now, so the mystery of my magical disappearing rug could wait.

Any chance of a good mood vanished the moment I started walking to my trunk. Or tried to start walking. Despite the fact I was sending the "walk forward" message to my muscles, I ran straight back into my bed. I fell backwards and ended up sprawled across the mattress, my head hanging over the side.

"Toohs," I mumbled. Wait, toohs?

Maneuvering myself back to my feet, I slowly and deliberately started walking backwards, stopping when I was in front of my trunk. Oh shoot.

As I hurriedly pulled out clothes, a garbled, backwards stream of not-so-nice French poured from my mouth. I was going to kill them.

o…o

Nearly twenty minutes later, I stumbled into the Great Hall. It was almost empty except for a few stragglers, mostly around the Slytherin table. Well this day is getting better and better.

As I made my way (slowly) to the Gryffindor table, I bumped into someone. "Yrros," I mumbled, stepping to the side. I took another step and bumped into something again. Why had they moved in front of me? I had an excuse, I was walking backwards, what was theirs?

"Yrros," said a voice from behind me. I turned around and saw . . . turquoise hair?

"Yddet?" I asked incredulously. He turned around.

"Eriotciv?" I cocked my head to the side, trying to work out what he'd said. He tried to take a step toward me, but it looked as if something was pushing him back.

I tried not to giggle – hey, it looked funny, okay? – and smiled drily. "Oot uoy?"

He blinked, a frustrated expression on his face. "Meht llik ot gniog m'I."

Huh? Simultaneously, we shrugged. I gave him a small, rather annoyed smile, and he returned it. With nothing better to do, we both turned around and continued where we had been headed. After snagging a piece of toast from the table (and acquiring several new bruises from running into stuff), I reversed direction back towards the doors. I was going to be very late for class.

o…o

The good news: I was only ten minutes late to class.

The bad news: It was my second period.

The worse news: It was potions class with my _favorite_ teacher. Please note the sarcasm.

As I stumbled backwards into the dungeon, I heard the class turn in their seats. I wasn't being very quiet, despite my efforts, but I could still hear the whispers and laughs. I could practically feel the stares boring into my head, the fingers pointed at my back.

One steadying breath later I was turned to face the class, trying to figure out how to get to my seat. I had been right; the whole class was staring, wondering why I had tripped backwards into class ten minutes late. I saw my seat – ugh, next to _them_ – and was just about to turn around and move towards it when Professor Zabini called out my name.

"Miss Weasley, perhaps you would like to explain why you are late?" he sneered in his cold voice. I had described Zabini to Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione one time and they said he sounded just like their old potions professor, Snape. I had heard some stories about Snape, and I had to agree.

I shook my head, keeping my lips tightly shut. Talking would not help my case at all.

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" I winced. "Now answer me."

I glared at Ian and Meghan; it was their fault Gryffindor was about to be in negative points. They exchanged high fives. "Stoidi era sdneirf ym esuaceb." The class was all either laughing or blinking confusedly. I turned and made my way quickly to my seat, sitting down hurriedly. When I looked up, Zabini was standing there, looking livid yet somehow still calm. He was really unnerving sometimes.

"Another ten points for your impertinence. Everyone, continue with your potions." I kicked my "friends" under the table, and then pointedly ignored them the rest of the period.

0…..0

I skipped the rest of my classes. I knew I'd get in trouble, but I would probably be in more trouble if I'd shown up. Instead, I wandered onto the grounds, finally settling under a large beech tree by the lake. Well, if you count running into the trunk, tripping over the roots, landing on my back and not caring enough to get up settling. Hey, at least I didn't trip into the water.

Which is more than can be said for a certain blue-haired teenager. I hadn't been under the tree for more than two minutes before I heard a loud SPLASH! I looked up and saw Teddy's head emerging from the crystal depths. I shook my head and lay back down.

A second later I shot up, being suddenly doused with cold lake water. I aimed a kick at Teddy, who had wrung out his schoolbag on my head. He laughed and I couldn't help but join in. I scooted over, making room for him to sit beside me. He did so and we sat in silence.

After a few minutes, Teddy grabbed a stick and wrote out in the dirt: "thgindim ta ffo raew lliw ti dias neb dna nitsuj." It took me a minute, but I finally worked out what it said. Justin and Ben said it will wear off at midnight. At least tomorrow will be back to normal.

I sighed, put my hands behind my head, and returned to reclining against the tree. I give up.

0…0

_I was surrounded by darkness. It was almost tangible. Suddenly, a light appeared in front of me. It flickered and danced, wavering and blurring about the edges. I blinked and the light became people. There were two of them, one man and one woman. I had a feeling I had seen them before, perhaps in a photograph, but the darkness seemed to have muddled my memories._

_ The man was tall and thin, with a lined and tired face and shabby robes. His sandy brown hair was streaked with large portions of grey, though he must only be in his mid-thirties. In contrast, the woman beside him was young and full of life, with spiky bubblegum pink hair and clothes that looked like she had come from a rock concert. They were both smiling, lighting up both their faces. _

_ The woman glanced down and it was then I realized she was carrying a bundle of blankets. I could see a mop of brown hair over the edge. Only when the hair turned turquoise did I realize where I had seen these people before. I had seen their picture hundreds of times before; it always stood next to Teddy's bed. These were Teddy's parents._

_ The woman – Teddy's mother – moved toward me and held out the bundle of blankets to me. Hesitantly I reached out and received the baby Teddy in my arms. I only had one glance of his face before he turned into a different baby, this one a girl. She had silvery blond hair and freckles. I gasped as her hair flickered to turquoise, and her eyes switched from brown to purple. She continued to change her appearance as I stepped forward to give the baby back to Teddy's mother. _

_ I reached out, but the couple had become blurred and distorted, as if they were behind a thick sheet of glass. A chilly wind started whistling, bringing with it the sound of a large crash from behind me. I whirled around and saw Meghan and Ian. They were dressed in their costumes from the dance we'd had last month, Ian as a mummy and Meghan a faerie. Yet it was as if they weren't wearing costumes – as if they were truly what they should have only been dressed as. _

_ They were fighting. Ian was yelling at Meghan in some language I had never heard before, and Meghan shouted back in another strange tongue. As I watched, Meghan reached down and picked up a book that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. She threw the tome at Ian, but he ducked. The book hit and invisible wall in the darkness, producing the same thud that had alerted me to their presence in the first place._

_ The images of my friends wavered and split. Suddenly there were two Meghans and two Ians. They began to battle each other, Meghan against Meghan, Ian against Ian. Multicolored lights and orbs of energy bounced back and forth, but no one was using wands. I grew more and more anxious as the fighting escalated. They were going to kill themselves! Just when the fight reached its climax, the images wavered and blinked again. Once more, there was only one Meghan and one Ian, back to yelling at each other as they had been._

_ Something – instinct, perhaps, caused me to glance over my shoulder. The sight that met my eyes made me jump backwards, stifling a yelp. Teddy's parents were still there, but they no longer looked as if they were behind glass. Instead, their skin had taken on a deathly pallor, and their clothes were torn and dirty. Worst of all, their eyes had turned completely black – no white at all._

_ A third thud made me glance behind me at the fighting pair. They immediately stopped their bickering and turned to me. Once more I jumped backwards, seeing both Meghan and Ian with their eyes the same black as the Lupins'. I clutched the baby I found I was still holding closer to me and ran. _

_ I could hear the four running after me, but I didn't look. Just when I felt I could run no more, Ian and Teddy's mother appeared in front of me. I stopped before I ran into them and turned, but Meghan and Teddy's father blocked my path. They advanced on me, the darkness of their eyes boring into my mind. _

_ Then, for the first time, the baby in my arms cried – great wailing sobs. Rocking her back and forth in my arms, I glanced down at her face. The sight that met my eyes frightened me the most of anything from this darkness. I leapt away, dropping the baby into the air where she hung suspended, staring at me. She was still crying, but the liquid rolling down her cheeks was not tears._

_ It was blood._


	13. Nightmare

**Please don't hate me (more than you probably already do)! So, once again, I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. But it needed to be written. I'm sorry it took so long, especially with the way I ended the last chapter. I'm also sorry it's so short; I really did mean to write more, but then it would have taken even longer, and this just seemed a logical place to stop. As always, any kind of review is welcome, appreciated, and loved, most especially constructive criticism. Ideas and suggestions are great too! **

**TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT-VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV-TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

I woke to screaming. My throat was raw, yet it took me a minute to realize it was because I was the one shrieking. But that didn't stop me. I continued with my blood-curdling screech, ignoring the sounds of people waking up around me, pulling back curtains and even the dull thump of someone falling out of bed.

Someone moved next to me on the bed, and I felt a hand rubbing my back. "Shh," whispered a voice. "It's okay. You're fine, it was just a dream. Victoire, you're fine! Snap out of it!"

SLAP!

The scream died suddenly. Only after I felt my face stinging did I realize Meghan had slapped me.

"I'm sorry," she said, pulling me into a hug. "It's okay. Whatever happened, it was just a dream."

These words didn't comfort me. In fact, they only served to remind me of the dream. I saw Meghan's face before me, but her eyes were black. Blood swam in my vision, and I jumped up. Another scream began to form, but Meghan placed her hand over my mouth. I bit her.

Turning, I sprinted down the stairs. The dream was still clouding my senses; it seemed to cast a shadow over my vision, as if it was a veil thrown over the real world.

I took the stairs two at a time, trying to put as much distance between Meghan and myself as possible. I could hear doors opening and voices talking, but they were soon quieted by another voice – Meghan's.

The stairs turned into flat carpet and I tripped. I hurried back to my feet and continued running. Footsteps were growing louder behind me. I glanced backwards to see how close Meghan was and collided with someone. Strong arms wrapped around me, and I turned to find Ian.

I shrieked again, struggling. He flinched at my volume, but held tight. I had to get away. I stomped on his foot and his grip loosened for a second. It was enough. I pushed him off and ran forward blindly, tears and my dream inhibiting my vision. I cursed my clumsiness as I ran headlong into an armchair.

I pitched forward, landing crumpled in the chair. I curled into a ball and cowered as far back into the cushions as I could. Meghan and Ian, having both caught up to me, stood over my chair. I whimpered and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Teddy," I heard someone whisper over my head. Footsteps took off running, but I didn't open my eyes. I had begun to sob, pushing myself farther into the chair.

After a minute, I heard the footsteps again, but now they were heavier, as if there were two people.

"What happened?" cried a voice I recognized. I opened my eyes a fraction. There was Teddy, but Ian and Meghan were still there. I let out another sob and closed my eyes again.

Someone approached my chair. They stopped so close I could practically feel them. Then, without warning, I was scooped up into a pair of arms. My eyes flew open just as Teddy settled back into the chair, cradling me to his chest. I glanced to the side and saw that _they_ were still there.

I whimpered again, cowering into Teddy's chest. He rubbed my back soothingly. "Shhh, shh. It's over. It was just a dream, whatever you saw wasn't real. I don't know why you're afraid of Meghan and Ian, but don't be. They're your friends. It was just a dream."

He continued this stream of reassuring comments. I could feel my heartbeat slowly return to a normal rate, and it was only then I realized I was hyperventilating.

The portrait hole swung open, and I heard someone come in. I didn't look up, just buried my face into Teddy's shirt.

"What's going on?"

"Sorry Professor Longbottom, Victoire had a bad dream."

"Is she alright?"

Meghan hesitated, and Teddy answered instead. I could feel his voice vibrating. "I think so. She's calming down. She should be fine soon."

Professor Longbottom and Meghan exchanged a few more sentences, and he left.

After a few more minutes of Teddy rocking me back and forth, whispering comforting words, I felt better. Well, I no longer felt terrified of my best friends. As I sat up and looked around, the veil of my dream had lifted. It was pitch black outside. I realized how late it must be.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, looking around at all three of them, especially Meghan and Ian. I had made all three of them wake up at a ridiculous time, and then been frightened to death by two of them, unable to do anything but scream and sob.

They all assured me it was okay, and Teddy, whom I was now sitting next to in the very crowded armchair, squeezed my hand.

"What was your dream about?" asked Ian. I didn't even care that he was lacking in tact right now.

I shook my head. "I'll tell you tomorrow. I…I don't want to talk about it right now."

The three nodded and we all stood up. I gave Teddy a big hug before he went back upstairs. "Thank you," I whispered in his ear.


	14. Red Vines

**A/N: i am so unbelievably, unimaginably sorry that it took me this long to update! (please don't kill me!) if you're still reading this, i applaud you for your dedication and want you to know that it means so much to me that people take the time to read this! so, before you get into a murderous rage over the long wait, please enjoy the chapter!**

Bright sunlight shone through the windows, blinding me, even with my eyes closed. I groaned and rolled over in bed. After a few minutes however, sleep had not reclaimed me, and the noise was reaching an unbearable level. I sat up, blinking blearily.

Lorelei was running around the room in pursuit of a missing sock. I guess her back doesn't hurt anymore. (She was the one who fell out of bed the other night.) Stacey was "helping" her look, though her half concealed yawns were not convincing signs of alertness.

To my left, Meghan was sitting cross-legged on her bed, still in her pajamas, rereading her favorite book for what had to be the billionth time. It was some Muggle fantasy book that I had never heard of, but from what I'd gathered the "fantasy" wasn't really all the fantastical, at least not if you live in the wizard world. I think it was called _Eragon_ or something like that. The binding on the book was damaged from the number of times it had been read, resulting in a cover made of more tape than paper.

I crawled (literally) out of bed and over to my trunk at the foot of my bed. My robes were sitting on top, theoretically folded. I sat on the floor and pulled them on, too lazy to stand up. By the time I had finally forced myself to finish getting ready, Meghan had finished the last of her book and was already waiting for me.

"I don't understand how you can get ready so fast! And be awake…." I grumbled. Meghan just laughed at me and grabbed my hand, dragging me down the steps.

Ian chuckled when he saw us: me still half-asleep being dragged around by the substantially shorter Meghan. I half-waved at him, and he followed us downstairs to the Great Hall.

Somewhere around the third floor, I tripped on the stairs (I know it happens every day, but this one was noteworthy!) and went tumbling right into a group of fourth years.

Good news: they broke my fall.

Bad news: um, did you miss the part where I fell into them?

The three girls in the group all started laughing at me. Someone whispered "klutz" really loudly. The four boys in the group were glaring daggers at them though. One of them stooped down and helped me up.

"Thanks, Trent," I said, recognizing him. He was Meghan's older brother. He was cool enough, but tried to avoid us first years at all costs. If he did end up around us he was pretty nice though.

"No prob." He smiled, turned to salute Meghan and Ian, and he his friends continued on their way, some of them more reluctant than others.

I trudged back up a few stairs to where my friends were, bemoaning my clumsiness.

Meghan just patted my head absently, not paying attention to my complaints. Can't say I blame her.

Well, we finally made it to breakfast, with only a few more minor accidents. As we sat down, the light reflected into Ian's eyes and for a moment they looked black. I jumped backwards, adrenaline flooding my body.

My friends looked at me in concern, but I was quickly calming down. I still hadn't told them what my dream was about; just that it was all okay. The truth was, the dream still haunted me. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the night I woke up screaming, but it was little moments like this that reminded me how much it had scared me.

"I'm fine," I assured them, turning to glare at some guy who had been staring a little too long.

"Are you-" Meghan began, but I was saved by the post arriving. There was a box for me, containing some treats from Grandma Weasley.

"Oh look. Uncle Ron sent me some candy too!" I said, digging around the box. "He sent…Red Vines?"

"Ew," commented Ian. I shrugged. Looking up, I located the only kid with blue hair and chucked the package at him. Unfortunately, he shifted at that moment, and the Red Vines hit the kid next to him.

The kid I'd hit-Ben I realized- turned around to look at me, and I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!" I yelled. "If you could give those to Teddy please!"

Ben gave me a thumbs up and threw them at Teddy, despite the fact they were sitting next to each other. The package hit Teddy in the face, and he turned his hair red (though there was a smile on his face) and began to wrestle with Ben.

I shook my head and turned back to my package, digging out some treacle fudge and handing some to Ian, placing a piece on Meghan's plate as well. Ian was laughing and Teddy and Ben, but it took me a minute to realize Meghan was quiet. I turned to her. She was sitting staring at the wall, a letter clutched loosely in her hand.

"Meghan?"

Ian joined in. "Meghan? Hellooooo. Earth to Meghan."

I snapped my fingers in front of her face, and startled, she turned to look at us. "What's wrong?"

She just held out her letter as an explanation. I reached for it but Ian snatched it. I craned my neck to see what was written. It was a note from her mother, explaining that Meghan was going to have a new sibling.

"Your mom's pregnant!" I exclaimed, reaching over to hug Meghan. "That's great!"

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess. It's just…weird right now."

"Do you hope it'll be a boy or a girl?" I asked excitedly. Meghan was opening her mouth to answer when Trent came by and ruffled her hair.

"I see you got the letter too. Did you honestly see this one coming? 'Cause I'm kinda shocked."

Meghan nodded her agreement. Her brother smiled. "Let's just hope this kid has the sense to like Quidditch."

"Hey! It's not my fault I didn't get Dad's obsession like you did!" She was indignant, but Trent just smiled and nodded.

"Suuuuure."

The siblings continued talking, and Ian and I decided to give them some privacy for the obviously family moment. We stood up, smiling at the Woods, and moved to sit with Jessamine, Stacey, Colin and Jay.

"Hey Victoire, 'sup?" asked Colin, apparently not even noticing Ian.

I found this quite amusing for some reason. "Not much. You?"

Colin had obviously not thought this far ahead. "Ummm. Well, there's that, uh Transfiguration essay…."

Jay nudged him as I fought back a giggle. "Dude, that was due last week."

"Oh." Colin's face turned slightly pink.

"I remember that essay!" chimed in Jessamine. "I thought it was so hard! All that stuff we had to learn was really confusing. Actually, I'm not sure I actually remember what we learned. Do you think that'll be important for today's lesson? Oh I hope not! If it is, I won't know anything, and then I'll get a T in Transfiguration! Hmm, that'd be kinda funny though. You know, getting a "T" in Transfiguration. 'Cause they both begin with-"

"Thank you," I mouthed to Jay, who had slapped his hand over Jessamine's mouth. He nodded and cautiously removed his hand.

"But then of course, it'd also be funny to get an "A" in Arithmancy, or "P" in Potions, or . . ." Jay quickly covered her mouth again.

"Or a "D" in Divination," commented Stacey drily. Jessamine nodded her head enthusiastically, Jay's hand still over her mouth.

Colin was still staring at me, and I swear he was starting to drool. I sighed and prepared to give him my best death glare, but Ian beat me to it. "Hey mate, you're catching flies. Shut your mouth."

"What?" asked Colin, who had just noticed Ian's presence. "When'd you get here?" Ian just laughed and shook his head before grabbing a piece of toast.

I felt something drop onto my head and reached up to find a red piece of candy. "Hi Teddy," I said and turned around. He was standing there grinning at me.

"Hello, O Favorite First Year of mine," he replied, squeezing onto the bench next to me.

"What do you want?" Teddy pretended to look offended. "And don't even try that."

He dropped the act. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked, glancing around at the others listening in. I nodded and he led me into the Entrance Hall. He sighed and shifted his weight from foot to foot before finally looking at me. "Okay, so Harry's ticked 'cause of the detentions I got last week, well, he's mainly upset over the fact I cursed that Slytherin."

I nodded, not following him. "I could have guessed as much."

He sighed. "I was wondering," he glanced down at his feet. "Well, I was wondering if you could write to him and tell him he doesn't need to be so mad." Teddy glanced at me hopefully, but I frowned at him.

"No. I think you deserved those detentions." He started to protest, but I held up my hand and continued. "I know he started it, but you didn't have to curse him so badly. It took two days for his arms to get back to normal size." Teddy found his shoes very interesting once more. "I think Uncle Harry is right to be mad. He'll cool off eventually."

Teddy looked up at me angrily. "You're a lot of help!" He gave me a glare and stomped off. I was hurt, but tried not to appear so as I headed back into the Great Hall. I made my way back to my friends and sat down.

"What's wrong?" asked Ian.

"Nothing," I replied, forcing a smile. He didn't look convinced, but he dropped it. Colin, however, didn't.

"What did Teddy want?" He sounded slightly angry for some reason. Whatever.

"Family stuff," I said shortly.

Stacey looked confused. People knew Teddy and I were friends, but not as many people knew how close our families were. "You're related?"

I looked at her tensely, but then sighed. It wasn't her fault Teddy was mad at me. "Not technically." Something about my expression must have convinced her to leave it at that. I looked up to see Meghan walking over to us. I gave her a questioning glance, wondering if she was still shocked, and she gave me a smile. Ian and I stood up and went to join her. Together, we walked out into the Entrance Hall, waving at the group we'd just left.

"Trent and I wrote a letter back to our parents," said Meghan after a minute. "The whole thing was really unexpected, but I think it'll be fun to have a younger sibling."

"You say that now," I teased, "but just wait till it's born." Ian nodded in agreement. Meghan smiled again, but still seemed confused.

We were silent for another few minutes, until Meghan gave herself a little shake and grabbed our arms. "Come on – time for class. And if we're late, Professor Merryweather will kill us!"

o…...o

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, well, apart from Thomas accidentally turning Professor Maldrey's robes green, and Clare, a Slytherin, throwing paper airplanes through Professor Binns. But despite the fact not much had happened, I was exhausted when we finally arrived in the Great Hall for dinner. I just wanted to go to bed and ignore the homework I'd been assigned. This mood was not helped at all by Teddy, who glared at me when I glanced his way. Uncle Harry must be really mad.

Or then again, I thought, maybe not. Teddy hated it when Uncle Harry was mad at him, even if it wasn't that big a deal. It always made him feel so guilty, even if he didn't regret whatever he'd done. Well, Teddy deserved to feel guilty. I refused to let myself feel bad, I knew it wouldn't be right to meddle in other people's business, even if Teddy begged me to.

I sighed. I knew I'd done the right thing, so why did I still feel so crummy when I saw Teddy's eyes glaring at me, streaks of black in his normally cheery hair?


	15. Forgiveness

**A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is rather short, but its basically just finishing up the last chapter. Regarding the conversation between Teddy and Victoire (the first one) I think this is something Teddy would be really insecure about. I've always pictured Teddy as quite confident, but even confident people have concerns. Please review and tell me what you think! :D**

I spent the next day avoiding Teddy. I couldn't stand to look at his angry expression, even though I didn't regret my actions. I didn't linger in the common room, instead rushing to breakfast in the morning and hurrying to my dormitory whenever I needed to get my books or something. During breaks, I hid out in a secluded section of the library.

I had never been in that particular section before, which was a shame, because it turned out to be quite interesting. It was full of Muggle books. There were non-fiction books, which explained things like how motors work and how to cure different diseases without magic. There were also Muggle fiction books, some of which were just rather ridiculous. It was crazy how little Muggles understood what they were writing about, yet tried to insist it was true.

After half an hour going through the shelves, I found a book of fairytales. Some of them I recognized as stories Aunt Hermione and sometimes Uncle Harry had told me when I was younger. I became so engrossed in the tales the book held, I didn't even notice the time until seven minutes before Charms. I bolted up from the floor (I was sitting in the corner by the window, and the chair hadn't fit) and shoved the book into my schoolbag while racing out of the library. I was two floors and three corridors away from the Charms classroom, so I had to run if I wanted to get there on time.

Though I did in fact run all the way to the classroom, I was still a few minutes late, and arrived red-faced and panting just as Professor Maldrey was explaining the answers to the homework from last night. He gave me a disapproving look, but didn't say anything as I made my way over to Ian and Meghan, who had saved me a seat. Some other people glared at me, but probably more because Maldrey hadn't punished me than because I was late. Charms was my best subject, and I think I was one of Maldrey's favorite students.

I settled into my seat, pulling out my wand and the homework. We were reviewing for the exams, even though they were a couple months away. Today's lesson was Wingardium Leviosa. I didn't have much trouble with it, so I helped Ian, who was much better at Potions than Charms.

"Where've you been all day?" questioned Meghan, carefully going through the wand movements. "You just disappeared after breakfast, and you're gone after every class."

"No – not like that," I instructed Ian, who was doing the swish and flick backwards. "Oh, I was in the library."

"A likely story." Meghan said, shaking her head.

"It's true!" I insisted. "I even have a book to prove it." I pulled out the book defiantly, placing it on the table.

Ian finally got the spell he was practicing to work, and the book floated high above our heads. "Hey! Give it back!" I pouted, while the other two just laughed.

0...V...0

When I got back to the common room after dinner, I literally ran into Teddy, who was leaning by the portrait hole. I tried to turn around and leave, but he stopped me. "Vicki!" he cried. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

My head snapped up to look at him. "What? I thought you were mad at me!"

Teddy shook his head sadly. "No. I tried to be, but I'm more mad at myself. I'm really sorry I yelled at you. Forgive me?"

He smiled sheepishly at me and held out his arms. I nodded and gave him a hug. "You don't have to be mad at yourself. I mean, cursing that Slytherin wasn't the best thing to do, but you've been punished enough. And Uncle Harry will calm down and forgive you soon, if he hasn't already. He always does."

By this time we had made our way over to sit on a couch. Teddy looked at me with a miserable expression on his face, his hair its natural sandy brown. "But what if he doesn't?" he whispered, looking terribly vulnerable. "What if this time, he decides he can't possibly forgive me, and that he should focus entirely on his own children and just forget about me?"

This wasn't the first time I'd noticed Teddy's insecurities, but it was the first time he'd acknowledged them out loud. The look on his face was heartbreaking, and I wanted nothing more than to make it go away. I grabbed Teddy's hand and he glanced at me. "You are one of his children."

Teddy shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"Not by blood, but that's not what really matters." Teddy glanced away, still shaking his head. I reached out and forced him to look at me. "He's pretty much raised you. You're as much his son as James or Albus."

He sighed and leaned back into the couch. He squeezed my hand and said, with the utmost sincerity, "Thank you."

"It's true, you know," I said, giving him a small smile. He hesitantly returned it.

0...T...0

"Vicki!" I looked up to see Teddy running toward me. I smiled, seeing the huge grin on his face. His hair was pink today, and I was reminded of pictures I'd seen of his mother.

"What is it?" I asked, before noticing the letter in his hand.

"I got a letter from Harry. You were right – he's not mad anymore. Oh, and he sent a photo of Lily on her birthday. Here." He handed me a small picture and my smile grew. Lily was almost a perfect miniature of her mother, even at three years old. She was waving up at the camera, her bright red hair in adorably lop-sided pigtails.

"That's adorable!" I squealed, handing the picture back to Teddy. "And I'm glad Uncle Harry's not mad at you."

"Well," he said, pulling out an envelope from his pocket. "I'm going to go up to the owlery and send my reply."

"Oh, tell them I say 'Hi' and that the picture of Lily is really cute."

Teddy shook his head. "I will not write the word 'cute'."

"Oh come on, how much more immature can you get?" Teddy just stood there shaking his head at me. "Fine then." I snatched the letter out of his hand and grabbed a quill from the table I was sitting in front of.

"Hey!" he protested, trying to get it back. I pushed him away with one hand while hurriedly scrawling:

Hi Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny (and James, Albus, and Lily)! This is Victoire. I just wanted to say hi and that the picture of Lily is really cute. Tell her happy birthday from me! (Teddy refused to write the word cute, so I stole his letter to make sure you got the message.) Love, Victoire.

"There," I said, handing the letter back to Teddy. He pretended to glare at me.

"That was very rude. The letter could have been private!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah right. You steal my letters all the time. And besides, I didn't even read it!"

"On a related note, I do believe it's my turn to receive candy next; maybe I won't give you any." Our family sent candy and treats to Teddy and I in turn, knowing we'd share them. As I had received a package the day before, Teddy would be the next to get the candy.

"Well, if it's Red Vines from Uncle Ron again, you can keep it." We both laughed.


End file.
